The constitutional reform of the Italian Parliament. Effects and issues of the law 19 October 2020 No. 1

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse Constitutional Act 1/2020, which amends norms contained in Articles 56, 57 and 59 of the Italian Constitution (about composition and functioning of the Parliament), the effects of this reform on the Italian constitutional system and the proposals to reform parliamentary regulations in order to adapt these regulatory sources to the recent constitutional revision that reduced the number of members of Parliament. In particular, it is intended to ascertain whether these proposals go in the direction of an organic reform of the regulations or whether, on the contrary, they are merely adjustments. The reduction in the number of parliamentarians will become effective from the beginning of the next legislature but debate that preceded the referendum vote was particularly intense. Therefore, the doctrine has identified several critical issues related to the principles of representativeness and democracy, the essence of the Italian constitutional system, critical issues that seem to have an in-depth origin.